


A New Time

by HeartlessAngel



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: M/M, Marriage, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-03
Packaged: 2019-02-10 01:01:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12900618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HeartlessAngel/pseuds/HeartlessAngel
Summary: A new time was come and they began it together.





	A New Time

* * *

 

The first time they stood by any altar, they had been children, unknowingly forming a bond that stretched beyond the limits of the world they could see. A covenant before their ancestors had bound them and from it, because of it, they became intricate parts of each other’s lives. Gladio was first to admit that their beginning had been tumultuous, full of ambivalent sentiment, but despite their circumstances, they found common ground upon which to grow and shape a friendship that was essential to how they came to define themselves, as individuals and as partners set on course for the same goal.

This time, as they once more stood together in ceremony, they knew the meaning of the promises and covenants to be made to each other. Neither ancestors nor gods were present, for this was about the now, about their future that for so long seemed to have been proclaimed non-existent by gods who wanted to make others pay for their mistakes.

Between the Amicitia mansion and the Citadel, surrounded by rubble that had yet to be moved, was a park with a pond at the center of it, surrounded by flowers and shrubbery. It was here that they had caught their first fish together, where Gladio, confounded by puppy love, had read  _ The Hundred Cantos of History Lost _ to Noctis, attempting to comprehend the flutter in his chest at reading the love letters sent by people doomed to die far away from their beloved ones; and it was here, right on this rickety jetty, where Noctis finally lay claim on the parts of Gladio that had yet to be drawn in by him, with just one kiss, mid-sentence, midday, in full view of everyone else visiting the park, only to go back to fishing with a simple request, “Read the letter that begins with ‘Had we lived in another time…’”

This time was another. The after that wasn’t meant to be, that now was, here, in that same park, by the rickety jetty where it had all begun, the longing glances, casual touches, the merging of minds that wasn’t the magic’s nor the godly covenants’ doing. It was merely two kindred souls meeting, hoping to one day come together as people stripped of the burden of their titles.

Friends and family stood around them in the shape of a crescent moon, facing the pond, saw the rays of sun sparkle against its surface past the crowns of the trees shifting color.

No one had gone unscathed in the final battle. Gladio had a brace on his right arm and leg, Ignis managed to avoid broken bones, but suffered flesh wounds that were healing, Prompto’s bruises were just about gone, only his twisted ankle had him hold onto Iris and Ignis. And their King… Noctis had nearly slipped away from them on multiple occasions, the Ring of Lucii had been a force more destructive than Ardyn. But through persistence, Noctis stood here now, leaning against his father’s walking stick for support and expecting a full recovery.

Gladio let go of Noctis’ hand reluctantly and dug into the breast pocket of his Kingsglaive coat, hand trembling as he unfolded a piece of paper. He cleared his throat and snivelled, nose shifting a light red from the cold.

“It’s been a long road,” Gladio began and paused only briefly when his voice faltered. He looked at Noctis, amber meeting blue, and he smiled, lips quivering. “It feels like lifetimes ago, we sat here, reading the letters of nameless soldiers wishing for a time where they could live at peace with the people they loved. Even then, I thought that would be us - one left to mourn the other, and, we were almost that… I wrote you many letters while you were gone, enough for another Hundred Cantos of History Lost, hoping it would prepare me for what lay ahead, but standing here now with you - with you looking at me the way you did back then, just seeing what I was, what I am, willing to stick with me to see what I’ll become - I know that, had you gone, I would’ve gone with you… b-because, there is no me without you, Noct.”

Noctis wiped the tears running down Gladio’s face gently, ignoring his own.

“Remember when you saw me reading Glock?” Noctis began, voice wavering. “You took it and said ‘that’s garbage, this one’s a million times better’ and you handed me the first issue of Gold City?”

Gladio chuckled, and in the background Prompto chortled and sobbed into Ignis’ handkerchief in full agreement.

“It was like you knew,” Noctis said and nodded when his voice grew too thick. “You saw me go off the deep end and gave me something to bring me to a place where I could listen, where I could speak and be heard, and I know that at times, I’ve tried to destroy that place, but you come back for me, Gladio, always… I knew a long time ago that this is what I wanted. To be with you.”

Ignis stepped forward, drying soaked cheeks on his sleeves. He held out two small black gift boxes for jewelry.

“Those better not be rings,” Gladio joked.

“May the road ahead hold nothing but good things for you both,” Ignis said, attempting to hold his emotions in check, but his voice was every bit as thick as Gladio’s and Noctis’ had been.

Gladio pulled Ignis in for a hug, Noctis was quick to follow, and Prompto followed suit. The four swayed to muffled sobs of their guests. It was as though their reality was slowly sinking in; the war that had been fought for over a decade was over. Life could blossom once more, and this ceremony, this show of love and hope for the future between King and Shield, best friends, lovers, was the first sign.

As Ignis and Prompto stepped back, Gladio and Noctis opened the boxes. Necklaces with half a pendant that when put together depicted the new crest of a kingdom reborn; Amicitia and Caelum Lucis at the heart, enveloped by the crest of the Scientia family with a twist, both unicorn and deer wore a bandana around their neck. On the back was the crest of Tenebrae and the Nox Fleuret family as a reminder of what had been and the sacrifices that had been made for this day to be possible.

“You wanna go steady?” Noctis asked Gladio with a grin.

Gladio cupped Noctis’ face. “I do. Do you?”

“I do,” Noctis nodded. “I do, very much.”

Eagerly, Noctis tugged at Gladio’s coat and stood on his toes for a kiss. Once it came, it was soft as the fall of leaves around them in the gentle autumn breeze, warm as the claps and woos from their friends and family, promising as the sunlight.

A new time was come and they began it together.


End file.
